On an unusual Chepauk wicket offering a lot of grass on the surface, the Gujarat Titans skipper Shubhman Gill won the toss & elected to field. Ruturaj Gaikwad was accompanied by Rachin Ravindra opening the CSK batting. Azmatullah Omarzai had an amazing first over conceding just 2 runs.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played wonderfully well on Tuesday and posted a high score of 206/6 against Gujarat Titans after 20 overs. Rachin Ravindra (46 off 20) and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (46 off 36) provided Chennai with a powerful start. There was elegance, destruction & determination from both the opening batters. Be it on side, off side they punished everything. Ruturaj’s love for Gujarat continued. After which players like Shivam Dube (51 off 23), and Daryl Mitchell (24 off 20) played an explosive inning to finish with a high score.
Shubhman Gill (8 off 5) couldn’t capitalize as the Gujarat Titans came out to bat. Wriddhiman Saha (21 off 17) tried to accelerate but soon fell to the bowling of Deepak Chahar. David Miller (21 off 16) made his intentions very clear with some boundaries against CSK bowlers. Sai Sudarshan (37 off 31) tried to hold on from one end but the wickets kept on falling right in front of his eyes. He soon perished as well playing a painful innings. With the variety CSK had with their bowling, wickets fell like the nine pins as the Gujarat Titans tried to chase the target with an aggressive stroke play. Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande & Mustafizur Rahman got rewards for their pace bowling. Rahul Tewatia (6 off 11) attempted a significant stroke, but ended up delivering the ball into Rachin Ravindra’s hands. Rachin Ravindra took hold of three catches. M.S. Dhoni grabbed a stunner behind the wickets. Thala’s catch made the crowds go bonkers at Chepauk.
CSK marched on with another two points early on in the tournament as they went on beating the Gujarat Titans by 63 runs. The yellow army next plays the Delhi Capitals with a strong momentum with two back to back wins. Whereas the Gujarat Titans need to fix the loopholes and play their next game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye.
